Electric gas-lighter



(No Model.) I J. Y. PARKE. ELECTRIC GAS LIGHTER.

No. 400.479. Patenbed Apr.-2, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN Y. PARKE, or PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC GAS-LIGHTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,479, dated April 2,18898 Application filed June 15, 1888.

To aZZ whom it may concern;- Be itknown that 1, JOHN Y. PARKE, a citizenof the United States, residing at Philadelphia, Philadelphia county,State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Electric Gas-Lighters, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact specification.

My invention relates to electric gas-lighting devices, and moreparticularly to that class which is generally provided with a pendantadapted to turn the cock permitting and stopping the flow of gas, andoperating a spark device arranged at or near the tip of the burn er toignite the gas. Heretofore many such devices have been made, most of.which are wasteful of the electric current, in that they operate toproduce sparks at -the burner-tip when not needed.

It is the object of my invention to produce a gas-lighting device whichoperates only to produce a spark when the gas is turned on; and to thisend my invention consists in the.

The burner 1 may be of any desired construction, and is provided at ornear its tip with a stationary or fixed electrode, secured as usual. Acock, 3, controls the fiow of the gas tothe burner by being moved toalternately open and close the passage, 1t belng provided with one ormore openlngs corresponding to the passage.

Mounted on the stem of the cock is a lever, 4, to which the ordinarypendant may be attached, and a spring, 5, normally holds it in anelevated position when not being operated. Attached to or connected withthis lever is an arm, 6, carrying the movable electrode 7. Thiselectrode is shown as being in the form of aspring, a portion of whichis coiled around Serial No. 277,209. (No modeh) the rod or carrier 8,and the other portion extends laterally, so as to be brought intocontact with the fixed electrode with a wiping motion when it is desiredto produce a spark. This rod or carrier Sis mounted on the arm 6 in anysuitable way, and I haveshown the arm provided with bearing-pieces 9 10,struck up or formed in one piece with the arm. A spring, 11, which maybe an extension of the electrode, if desired, tends to hold the arm inthe position shown in Fig. 1. The lower end of the arm is bent or formedinto a finger, 12, which serves as a pawl bearing upon the camshapedratchet 13, which is secured to the cock notches may extend entirelythrough the edge of the cam to form slots. When thele ver 4 isdepressed, the gas being turned off, it operates to vibrate the arm 6,carrying the movable electrode, and the finger 12 of the carrier 8engages with one of the deeper notches, 14, of the cam or ratchet andmoves the cock, so that one of its passages corresponds with thepassages of the. burner, permitting the gas to flow, and, as the arm iscarried by the stationary electrode, the movable electrode 7 engagestherewith and wipes across the same, producing a spark nearly at the endof its movement and just as the gas flows through the burner, so that itwill be instantly ignited. The lever is now returned to its normalposition by the spring 5, and as the finger 12 moves back across theface of the cam it rides up over one of the projections 16 and causesthe rod or carrier to be turned slightly on its axis, or, in otherwords, to be feathered,'so that as the movable electrode passes thefixed electrode it will not come in contact therewith, but is feathered,so as to pass in front thereof, as shown in Fig. 3. When it reaches itsnormal position, the finger engages one of the more shallow notches, 15,and when the lever is operated to, turn off the gas to extinguish thesame the finger engaging with this shallow notch of the cam or ratchetpropels the same to turn the cook; but the notch does not permit themovable electrode to be turned sufficiently to engage with the fixedelectrode, and it passes by in front thereof without engagement, andwhen the lever is returned again to its normal posit-ion by the springthe finger, as before, passes over the cam-surface and causes thecarrier 8 to again be turned or feathered, so that the movable electrodedoes not contact with the fixed electrode. It will thus be seen that thearm 6 reciprocates past the stationary electrode both when the cock isoperated to permit the flow of gas and to stop it; but owing to thepeculiar formation of the cam or ratchet the movable electrode is notpermitted to engage wit-h the fixed electrode but once, or at eachsecond reciprocation, and that at the time when the cock is moved topermit the flow of gas. At other times the movable electrode is held soas to pass in front of the fixed electrode by the feathering operation,as before set forth.

Vhile I have illustrated what I consider to be the best embodiment of myinvention, it is evident that the details of construction andarrangement may be varied without departing from the spirit thereof, thedistinguishing feature of which consists in preventing the movableelectrode making contact with the fixed electrode except when the gas isturned on by means of the feathering operation of the electrode-carrier.

By this mode of operation it will be seen that the battery-power is usedonly when it is effective in lighting the gas, and during the othermovements of the devices the elec- I trodes do not operate.

I have usedthe term feathering carrier herein to describe a carrierhaving a movement substantially like the movement of an oar, in thatwhen the moving electrode is passed by the fixed electrode the firsttime it comes in contact therewith; but when it is again passed by inthe same direction the carrier is turned on its axis or feathered, sothat the electrode will not contact with the fixed electrode.

hat I claim is- 1. A11 electric gas-lighter havinga movable electrodeadapted to be brought into contact with another electrode to create aspark, and a feathering carrier for the electrode,arranged to preventcontact between the electrode except when the gas is turned on,substantially as described.

2. An electric gas-lighter having amovable electrode adaptedto makecontact with another electrode to produce a spark, a lever for movingthe first electrode, and a feathering electrode-carrier controlling thecontact between the electrodes, substantially as described. A

3. An electric gas-lighter having a movable electrode adapted to makecontact with another electrode, a lever for moving the first electrode,a feathering carrier for the movable electrode, and a cam forcontrolling the position of the carrier, substantially as described.

4:- An electric gas-lighter having a reciprocating electrode and astationary electrode, a feathering carrier for the movable electrode,and a cam controlling the carrier, the said cam .also operating to movethe cock controlling the How of gas, substantially as described.

5. In an electric gas-lighter, a stationary electrode, a cook, a ratchetcam secured to the cook, a lever, and a movable electrode mounted on acarrier and controlled by thecam, substantially as described.

6. In an electric gas-lighter, a moving arm and a featheringelectrode-carrier mounted on said arm in bearings formed integral withthe arm, substantially as described.

7. In an electric gas-lighter, a feathering electrode-carrier and acontroller therefor provided with projections on its side and notches onits edge, substantially as described.

8. In an electric gas-lighter, the combination, with a fixed electrode,of a feathering moving electrode, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

J OI'IN Y. PARKE.

lVitnesses:

WM. S. DARLINGTON, NATHAN 0. LANE.

